St Luke, Middlesex

Historical Description

Luke, St, a parish in Middlesex. The parish forms a compact portion of the metropolis; lies averagely about 1½ mile NNE of St Paul's; is intersected by the line of the Roman road to Old Ford; contains Finsbury Square, Bartholomew Square, King Square, New Artillery Grounds, Bun-hill Fields Cemetery, and the City basin of Regent's Canal; stands, to a considerable extent, on the site of the quondam Moorfields; is divided for local purposes into the wards of City Road East, City Road West, Finsbury East, Finsbury West, and Old Street; has post, money order, and telegraph offices in the E.C. district, and enjoys facilities of railway communication by ready access to stations of the Metropolitan railway, and to the railway termini at Liverpool Street. Acreage, 237; population, 42,440. The parish was originally part of St Giles Cripplegate, but now contains eight ecclesiastical parishes, all of which are in the diocese of London. That of St Luke, Old Street, is a rectory, of the net value of £650, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's. Population, 8597. St Barnabas, King's Square, formed in 1841, is a vicarage, of the net value of £310 with residence, in the gift of the Eector of St Luke's. St Clement, City Boad, formed in 1874, is a vicarage, of the gross value of £200 with residence, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's. Population, 6638. St Mark, Old Street, formed in 1848, is a vicarage, of the net value of £240, in the gift of the Bishop of London. Population, 3569. St Mary, Golden Lane, Charterhouse, formed in 1864, is a vicarage, of the gross value of £425 with residence, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's. Population, 2328. St Matthew, City Road, formed in 1848, is a vicarage, of the net value of £271 with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of London. Population, 3734. St Paul, Bunhill Row, is a vicarage, of the net value of £285 with residence, in the gift of the Rector of St Luke's. Population, 5560. St Thomas's, Charterhouse, is a perpetual curacy, of the net value of £320 with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of London. The vicarage of St Paul, Peartree Street, is partly in the parish of St Luke but chiefly in the parish of Clerkenwell. St Luke's Church was one of Queen Anne's fifty churches, and has a front in the Doric style, with a curious pyramidal tower. St Barnabas' Church was built in 1823 at a cost of £12,853, and has an Ionic porch and a slender spire. St Matthew's Church was of later erection, and has a very good spire. The Tabernacle' is a Congregational chapel, and stands on the site of one-which was built in 1735 by the celebrated preacher Whit-field. The Wesleyan chapel in City Road was founded in 1777 by John Wesley, who often preached in it, and it contains a tablet to Charles Wesley, " the first who received the name of Methodist." The grave of John Wesley is behind: the chapel, and a tomb covers the grave, which was originally erected in 1791, and was reconstructed and enlarged in 1840. The Roman Catholic chapel in Bloomfield Street was regarded as the Roman Catholic cathedral of London prior to the erection of St George's, Southwark, and the remains of Weber was buried in it till their removel in 1844 to Dresden. St Luke's Hospital for lunatics dates from 1732; was built in 1751-86 at a cost of £55,000; consists of brick trimmed with stone, and comprises centre and wings, aggregately 49$ feet long. The City of London Lying-in Hospital was founded in 1750 in Aldersgate, and was built on its present site in 1770-73. The Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital is in Bloomfield Street, Moorfields, and is unendowed. St Mark's Hospital for fistula is in the City Road, and so als& is the Chest Hospital. The parish is rich in charities which are conjointly held with the parish of St Giles Cripplegate, the St Luke portion being dispensed by a board of trustees formed by the Charity Commissioners in 1878. The Peabody and Guinness' Trustees hold numerous blocks of model dwellings in the parish. St Luke's is a component of the-Holborn union, and comprises by far the largest and most densely populated part of the borough of East Finsbury. Cowper Street Schools, and the City and Guilds Institute in Leonard Street, are important educational institutions.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for St Luke from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Luke's, St.)

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Middlesex is online.